Andalusian school; XVII century.

Andalusian school; 17th century.
"St Peter".
Oil on canvas. Re-tinted.
It presents multiple restorations.
Measurements: 90 x 69,5 cm; 100 x 79,5 cm (frame).
In this canvas is represented Saint Peter in act of penitence, half-length and in the foreground, strongly illuminated on a dark and neutral background, which enhances his corporeity at the same time that helps to focus the attention on the figure. Saint Peter is weeping, looking up to heaven while holding the keys, characteristic of his iconography. The scene is completed by the presence of the open Bible and the profile of a cockerel on the right-hand side of the composition. This helps us to understand the apostle's tears, as he blackened Christ on three occasions.
With regard to the subject depicted, Saint Peter (Bethsaida, c. 1 BC - Rome, 67) was, according to the New Testament, a fisherman, known to be one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. The Catholic Church identifies him through the apostolic succession as the first Pope, based among other things on Jesus' words to him: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the power of Death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven". St. Peter could be said to have been Jesus' confessor, his closest disciple, the two being united by a very special bond, as narrated in both the canonical and apocryphal Gospels.